03/05/2016View "The Sun Watchers" video produced by Astronomy Outreach Network including an indepth look at the 1.6m New Solar Telescope designed and built by DFM!

See breathtaking images of the Sun and learn about the 1.6m NST at BBSO. It is the largest telescope of its kind in the world and making phenomenal solar discoveries possible in the science of astronomy.

Discover the critical elements of the NST that seemingly floats on a spring suspension balancing mechanism. And learn the details of a unique thermal control system, a closed-cycle, chilled-air system and its importance in providing unprecedented, high-resolution image quality.

The 227th AAS meeting will be held January 4-8, 2016 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, 6000 West Osceola Parkway in Kissimmee, Florida.

The meeting will feature over 16 accredited speakers, multiple workshops in teaching, science presentation, team-building and astronomical data analysis, software, and research projects among other special sessions.

Dr. Frank Melsheimer and Mr. Mark S. Kelley will be attending the DFM Engineering booth. DFM will feature prime focus conversions to re-purpose old "dinosaur telescopes" with a corrected prime focus wide field instrument and show a revolutionary dual imaging instrument application designed specifically to look for asteroids.

Ascension Island (located in the mid Atlantic) is now home to the NASA and the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL ) that features a new 1.3m Meter
Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT).

The fast tracking telescope follows debris targets in any direction across the sky. It eliminates both the blind-spot at the zenith that is so typical of astronomical telescopes as well as the need to flip the telescope when it crosses the meridian. It will enable NASA to deepen the understanding of the debris environment around Earth.

The MCAT is a unique telescope, one of only two like it in the world - a 20,000 lb., double horseshoe mount telescope, designed by DFM Engineering.

Dr. John Tonry and Dr. Frank Melsheimer put the ATLAS and its custom 110 megapixel CCD camera through a final testing procedure at DFM Engineering Headquarters. The instrument features are described in detail with First Light images.

This modern DFM 24" Telescope is computer controlled by a recently installed telescope control system (TCS) called TCSGalil™. The telescope's 24" mirror affords it the "light gathering" ability to see deeply into the universe and the new TCSGalil™ provides ease of use and numerous practical benefits.

Emory scientists are using the new telescope and the data collected in astronomy, photometric measurements and spectroscopy.

12/19/2014DFM contributes to the Asteroid Terrestrial - impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) at the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii (RCUH).

RCUH and the Institute for Astronomy (IfA) at the University of Hawaii have developed a project called the ATLAS. It is designed to compliment the Pan-STARRS project for locating Earth bound asteroids and comets.

ATLAS will be a vital alert system for incoming planetary disasters, namely, asteroids. Astronomers expect the ATLAS system to be fully operational by the end of 2015.

DFM Engineering, Inc. is pleased to attend the 224th meeting of the American
Astronomical Society. The meeting will be held June 1-5, 2014 at the Westin Copley Place Hotel, 10 Huntington Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts.

The 224th meeting will highlight multiple accredited speakers, a solar physics division session and a laboratory astrophysics division session among other special sessions.

Mr. Mark S. Kelley will be attending our booth.

Please come visit us at Booth #103.

04/12/2014Enjoy the Total Eclipse of the Moon!

At 2 o'clock in the morning (EDT) on April 15th, you can be treated to this spectacular lunar eclipse. It will be visible from all of North America, and seen well up into the western sky.

The telescope was named after Jim Zadko, who made a generous donation toward its acquisition and the telescope is now affectionately known as the "Zadko".

It remains the largest telescope available for professional astronomical research and public access in the Southern Hemisphere.
Exciting observations and discoveries are being celebrated and credited to its fast tracking and quality light gathering capabilities.

2/28/2012Mystery of the Brown Mountain Lights shines in the Denver Post!

On Saturday, February 11, 2012 at the Morganton City Hall in North Carolina, Ed Phillips of the Burke
County Tourism Development Authority presented the world's two most sought after speakers on the Mystery
of the Brown Mountain Lights! Joshua
P. Warren, Paranormal Investigator and Applachian State University Physicist and Astronomer, Dr.
Dan Caton both shared their theories on the origins of the mysterious lights to a sell-out crowd.

The news of the mysterious lights and the symposium interest captured the attention of the Denver
Post easily 6 states to the west in Colorado.

Installation took place in the late afternoon and evening hours before an approaching storm.

The new observatory and telescope will provide handicapped accessibility for the public and with research
support from NSERC (NSF equivalent) the telescope will be used for research on half-light diameters of
open clusters. The Grenfell Campus will also explore collaborative projects with students from Saint Mary's
University in Halifax, which has a full-blown astronomy graduate program.

11/11/2011DFM Engineering's research grade telescopes have been used to track the asteroid YU55.

In the MSNBC video, Brian Williams reports on the research activities at the Clay
Center Observatory. Ron Dantowitz, Brookline MA, uses a 24-inch DFM research telescope to track and
study the asteroid.

4/8/2011DFM Engineering has been awarded the contract for the design, manufacture and installation of NASA's
Meter-Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT) system.

Research, imaging and characterization of space debris will be the cornerstone of space surveillance by
NASA and the Air Force Reserch Laboratory, a core technical capability required to support US national
interests in space.

DFM is proud to announce its co-sponsorship of the international conference, “Telescopes from Afar” being
held February 28 - March 3, 2011 at Waikoloa Beach Marriott, Hawai’i.

The conference will focus on remotely operated, automated and robotic ground based telescopes including
economics, scheduling, networking, instrumentation and other related topics.

The goal is to provide an opportunity to share information on the advancements and developments in the
areas of remote observing, remote operation and automated local and global networking of all sizes of observatories.

The conference offers a unique perspective on retrofitting existing observatories for remote and autonomous
operations.